Annual Form 1040
You file a US return on your worldwide income every year. The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion and Foreign Tax Credit usually wipe out the US bill — but only if the return is actually filed.
US expats · compliance
Stay compliant abroad, without the dread.
US citizenship comes with US tax obligations no matter where you live. We keep your annual filings, foreign-account reports, and information returns current — on time, every year — so the IRS stays quiet and you stay focused on your life overseas.
§ What compliance involves
More than just one return.
For most Americans abroad, “staying compliant” is several moving parts that all have to line up in the same year. Miss one and the whole filing is incomplete.
FBAR & FATCA
FinCEN 114 (FBAR) is due if your foreign accounts topped $10,000 at any point; Form 8938 (FATCA) kicks in at higher thresholds and rides along with your 1040. Many expats need both.
Information returns
Own part of a foreign company, or touch a foreign trust or large gift? Forms like 5471, 3520, and 3520-A may apply — each with its own deadline and its own penalty.
§ Deadlines & extensions
The expat calendar, mapped.
- 1
April 15 — payment is due
Any tax owed is due by the regular deadline, even when your filing date is later. Interest runs from here.
- 2
June 15 — automatic expat extension
Living abroad gives you an automatic two-month extension to file your 1040 without asking.
- 3
October 15 — extended deadline
File Form 4868 and you can push the return to mid-October. FBAR also gets an automatic extension to this date.
- 4
Year-round — information returns
Forms like 5471 and 3520 attach to your return or carry their own dates. We track them so none slip.
§ Why it matters
The cost of falling behind.
Non-compliance gets expensive fast
Late or missed information returns carry penalties that start in the thousands of dollars per form, per year — often regardless of whether any tax was owed. FBAR penalties can climb higher still for willful failures. The good news: there are penalty-relief paths, like the Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures, for expats who simply didn’t know. Catching it early is what keeps it cheap.
§ How we keep you current
One firm, every form, every year.
We inventory your income, accounts, and foreign interests once, then run the full checklist each season — 1040, FBAR, FATCA, and any information returns that apply. You review a clean draft, we file before the deadline, and you get a record you can stand behind if the IRS ever asks. If you’re already behind, we’ll get you caught up first.